While just undergoing your routine annual health check-up supported by your office, you become aware of raised serum glucose levels. Just the thought of being Diabetic overwhelms you. You start feeling that you will have to live whole life on bland food with no sweetness and your entire life style will become boring-no good foods and no parties.

But actually the fact is that you can continue to enjoy active, healthy and normal life supported by more healthy eating plan under right care and guidance.

Before under standing Diabetes first let us understand the significance of glucose and how it is normally processed in the body.?

§Glucose is a main source of energy for the cells that make up your muscles and other tissues. Glucose comes from two major sources: the food you eat and your liver. During digestion, sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream. Normally, sugar then enters cells with the help of insulin.

§The hormone insulin comes from the pancreas, a gland located just behind the stomach. When you eat, your pancreas secretes insulin into your bloodstream. As insulin circulates, it acts like a key by unlocking microscopic doors that allow sugar to enter your cells. Insulin lowers the amount of sugar in your bloodstream. As your blood sugar level drops, so does the secretion of insulin from your pancreas.

§Your liver acts as a glucose storage and manufacturing center. When your insulin levels are low — when you haven't eaten in a while, for example — your liver releases the stored glucose to keep your glucose level within a normal range.

What is Diabetes?

It is of two types.

Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar (glucose) into energy. Although type 1 diabetes can develop at any age, it typically appears during childhood or adolescence.

Type 2 diabetes, once known as adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar (glucose), your body's main source of fuel. Type 2 diabetes is often preventable, but the condition is on the rise — fueled largely by the current obesity epidemic.

When you have type 2 diabetes, your body is resistant to the effects of insulin — a hormone that regulates the absorption of sugar into your cells — or your body produces some, but not enough, insulin to maintain a normal glucose level. Left uncontrolled, the consequences of type 2 diabetes can be life-threatening.

Various factors may contribute to type 1 diabetes, including genetics and exposure to certain viruses. Despite active research, type 1 diabetes has no cure. But advances in blood sugar monitoring and insulin delivery have simplified the daily routine of managing type 1 diabetes. With proper treatment, people who have type 1 diabetes can expect to live long, healthy lives.